


Perspicere

by erunamiryene



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Sith Era - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Jedi did shady shit, Some rewrites of canon will occur, Tags Will Update As Story Progresses, What I told you was true from a certain point of view, lost heritage, mostly canon compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 01:07:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7781035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erunamiryene/pseuds/erunamiryene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashaeft (not her given name, but the only name she’s ever known) has been in the care of the Jedi Order as long as she can remember, raised with seven other Purebloods.  They are considered ideological victories, the triumph of Jedi ideals over Sith cravenness, and - not openly, but by some - proof that the Jedi are meant to eradicate the Sith from existence, if not through combat, then through the erasure of their culture and way of life.</p><p>Ashaeft wholeheartedly believes in the Order, what it stands for, and its mission, and looks forward to having many opportunities to serve as she ventures forth from Tython.</p><p>A story of perspective and how it changes for one Jedi in the course of her adventures across the galaxy.  Will touch on some canon events and feature some canon rewrites.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Satele & Regaish

**Author's Note:**

> perspicere, "I perceive or discern clearly"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grand Master Shan and Master Regaish discuss what's to be done with a promising Pureblood.

“She has defied expectations, Grand Master. The eldest Pureblood of the eight we brought back from that outlying Sith settlement on Thila has applied herself in ways we never expected.” Master Regaish, a broad-shouldered man with long, braided blond hair, cannot hide his pleased expression. “She is incredibly strong in the Force, and is utterly devoted to the Jedi Order. I believe the fears of some of my fellows are unfounded. Ashaeft is living proof that we can counteract the dark pull of their culture if we find the children young enough.” 

Grand Master Shan has made no secret, among the Jedi who know the truth behind the Purebloods’ arrival at the temple, of her displeasure at the operation that was carried out, and she fixes Regaish with a stern glare. “You have approached me on more than one occasion asking to repeat this mission, Master Regaish. I am telling you for the last time that we will do no such thing. The _first_ mission should never have been authorized. What, in all your teachings in your time as a Jedi, tells you that drugging a colony and stealing children is appropriate behavior for one of our Order? If you are here to broach this subject again, you will find yourself a knight, working alongside Knight Matmari in the Outer Rim.”

Wechi Matmari had been a master when he organized the secret mission to claim Pureblood children. Regaish still doesn’t know who on the Council authorized the mission, and is quite sure that Grand Master Shan is the only other person who does. “No, Grand Master, I am not here to talk about that. Ashaeft can see she’s much older than the others, and she’s starting to wonder why she isn’t being chosen to be trained, when she defeats others at combat, at knowledge tests, at skill tests. She takes every askew glance, every word muttered behind her back, as a challenge to prove she is not the enemy, and it has paid off. Any other of her skill would have been chosen by a master long before now. I have no satisfactory answers to give her. What shall we do?”

The Council’s deliberations on what to do with the eight Pureblood infants, all between the ages of two months and one year, had been nearly acrimonious. It had finally been decided that they would be kept together, their education and outside knowledge carefully cultivated and monitored. If any showed promise and no inclination to turn to the dark side, then the matter of their being trained would be approached.

It seems that time has come, though Satele herself has been watching their progress and is surprised it hasn’t happened sooner.

“Ashaeft has ably demonstrated, time and again, her loyalty to the Order. I will consent to her being trained. Send her to help with the issues we’re having in the Gnarls. We shall see how she fares from there.”


	2. Praven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darth Angral and his apprentices come face to face with the Jedi that's been hounding them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While the game doesn't give many options for Pureblood jewelry and doesn't show them on everyone, it's long been a headcanon of mine that each family has their own particular designs, chosen gems, etc, and that these are passed down from one generation to another. Thus, choosing not to wear _any_ is tantamount to casting aside your heritage and a great insult to a people who have faced extinction more than once.

A Pureblood woman strides up behind Tarnis, and Lord Praven silently congratulates Darth Angral. Eliminating that meddlesome padawan on Coruscant, and with a Pureblood? It’s a master stroke.

She’s beautiful, Praven realises, though he notes with some curiosity that her face is devoid of any of her family jewelry. Her features, the surety with which she carries herself, it all captivates him, and he hopes he remembers to ask Angral who she is when this meeting is concluded.

She opens her mouth, and in one sentence turns burgeoning interest into virulent anger.

The Jedi that’s been dogging their every step is this _Pureblood_.

Her bare face becomes an insult, a conscious discarding of her culture, of the traditions so carefully preserved through millenia of Jedi and Republic aggression. Every word that leaves her mouth, spoken in Republic-accented Basic and infused with the fervency of the truly zealous, turns his stomach. It’s one thing - one unforgivable thing - to defect. It’s another entirely to submit one’s whole self to the enemy’s twisted ideology and spout Jedi nonsense. Not only is she a traitor, she’s _proud_ of it.

The brief talks come to their inevitable violent end, though he notices that this time it is not the Jedi pushing to kill the Sith. She dispatches Tarnis with such astonishing skill and precision, her every movement grace and brutality equally interwined, that for a moment he finds himself admiring her, drawn into their battle. 

It takes every ounce of his self-control to not grimace in self-disgust.

When Angral punches the holocom button and disconnects the call, Praven steps forward and inclines his head. “My lord, I ask for the opportunity to eradicate this traitor.”

“You shall have it.”


	3. Shae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chance encounter disturbs Shae more than she's expecting.

[1]  
Shae’s book lays forgotten in her lap. Her tea has already gone cold on her side table. That Pureblood woman, the one that came to attack the settlers. Had Shae been imagining the look of hurt that crossed her face? The whole encounter sits at the back of Shae’s mind, a discordant note in her usually harmonious thoughts.

“You’re … I’d heard rumors, but couldn’t believe one of our own would do such a thing!” the woman had exclaimed, flanked by the beasts she’d forced to serve her. “Why?”

Shae had scowled. She did not dedicate her life to the Order, to the people who rescued her from death, to be lumped in with Sith. “I am not _one of your own_. I will never be one of you! I am a Jedi!”

The pain in the woman’s eyes had been burned away by incandescent rage at that. They’d fought, and the Sith lord and her beasts had fallen under Shae’s blade.

But the _anguish_ … that makes Shae wonder.

[2]  
“Master Regaish, what happened to our parents?”

Ashaeft, like the other seven Purebloods under Regaish’s care, is named for an obscure Jedi, and it is the only name she’s ever known. Their given names are sealed on their records, which were taken from the settlement at the same time the Purebloods were, though they are records the Purebloods will never see.

She is also the most gifted in the Force of the eight; even at age six Regaish can tell her ability will be astounding, and he wonders if she is an abnormality among her people - her _former_ people, he reminds himself - or if she’s the norm.

“Master?”

He still hasn’t answered her question. In truth, he’d hoped none of them would ask. But the Council has agreed on an acceptable answer, and he knows Ashaeft. Once she has a question in her mind, she’s not going to let it go until she’s satisfied. He settles into one of the chairs on the side of the room and waits until she’s seated at his feet. “A Jedi Master was making a stop at -”

Ashaeft raises her hand. “Who was it?”

“It isn’t important, youngling. He has passed on.” He gives Ashaeft a stern look. “May I continue?”

She nods, abashed. “Yes, Master Regaish.”

“Thank you. As I was saying, this Master was making a stop on a small world on the Outer Rim. As he stepped out of the cantina, he noticed smoke out on the horizon. Now, as Jedi, it is our duty to investigate such things, and so he rented a speeder and made his way toward the billowing smoke with all due haste.”

By this point all eight Purebloods are crowded around him, listening quietly. He reminds himself that they bear the face of the enemy, and that this is the only chance they’ll have to turn them away from the lure of the Sith and the pull of the dark side.

“When he arrived, he found Sith lords and Imperial soldiers attacking a small settlement - burning dwellings, executing the residents. Our brave Jedi Master asked why they did this, and what do you think the Sith lord said?”

Ashaeft, as he expects, raises her hand. “The Sith lord didn’t give a reason; they just attacked. That’s what they always do.”

“An excellent guess, youngling, but not this time. This time, the Sith lord - a tall woman with all manner of jewelry on her face, robes black as the night sky, and clawed gauntlets - told him that the inhabitants of this settlement had displeased one of the Dark Councilors, and thus were ordered exterminated.”

The eight children gasp, as he’d expected them to.

“The Jedi Master heard one of you crying in your home, and begged her to at least spare you, but Sith lords care not for the survival of anyone but themselves. They do not love others the way we do. They do not understand empathy or compassion, and thus she said that the offenders and their offspring all had to die.”

Ashaeft’s amber eyes are wide. “They would have killed _babies_?”

“Would have, and do,” Regaish says, nodding solemnly. “The Sith are inherently selfish and cruel, as your lessons should be teaching you. Luckily, the Jedi was there to stop her and save you. He brought the eight of you back with him, rescuing you from the tyranny of the Empire and the murderous blades of the Sith. If he hadn’t been there, you would all be dead, lost to the same rage and fire that consumed your parents.”

Ashaeft shoots to her feet, standing like a soldier at inspection. “I will become a great Jedi - no, the greatest Jedi! And I will rescue everyone else from these mean people! They can’t be allowed to continue!”

It’s spoken with all the conviction of a small child, but Regaish hears an iron will in the words, and wonders how far the Council will really let her progress, though there have already been multiple discussions about how these Purebloods could be a coup for the Republic, a more merciful way of ending the threat of the Sith: converting them to the light when they are still too young to be captured by the dark.

“I’m sure you will, Ashaeft. You just continue to focus on your studies and your training, and I’m sure you will go far within the Order.” He stands. “Now, all of you, get your training sabers and pair up.”


End file.
